10 facts about the belfast blitz

One of every six Londoners was made homeless at some point during the Blitz, and at least 1.1 million houses and flats were damaged or destroyed. Between April 7 and May 6 of that year, Luftwaffe bombers unleashed death and destruction on the cities of Belfast, Bangor, Derry/Londonderry and Newtownards. Belfast was bombed by the Nazis in World War II. Most of the objectives laid out by the reconnaissance crews were of either military or industrial importance. Sixty years after the Germans bombed Belfast in World War II BBC News Online looks back and remembers the anniversary of the blitz. [21] Mass graves for the unclaimed bodies were dug in the Milltown and Belfast City Cemeteries. And even then, Westminster stated it was not ample provision; Stormont still worried about the costs to industry. The attacks were authorized by Germanys chancellor, Adolf Hitler, after the British carried out a nighttime air raid on Berlin. Several theatres and many cinemas were open, and there were even a few sporting events. Belfast | History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts Video, 00:00:36, Tears of relief after man found in Amazon jungle. As the UK was preparing for the conflict, the factories and shipyards of Belfast were gearing up. The Belfast Blitz: the city in the war years - History Ireland These shelters were vital as these factories had many employees working late at night and early in the morning when Luftwaffe attacks were likely. But the authorities were afraid that bombs might not be the. Horrendous Belfast losses during World War Two bombing blitz Around 1am, Luftwaffe bombers flew over the city, concentrating their attack on the Harbour Estate and Queen's Island. Belfast Blitz: Facts In total there were four attacks on the County Antrim city. Air power alone had failed to knock the United Kingdom out of the war. In the New Lodge area people had taken refuge in a mill. When war broke out in 1939 the city did not expect to be attacked by German bombers: it was geographically remote and deemed a relatively . The Blitz began at around 4 pm on September 7, 1940, when German bomber planes first appeared over London. The famous places damaged include the palace of Westminster and Westminster hall, the County hall, the Public Record office, the Law Courts, the Temple and the Inner Temple library; Somerset house, Burlington house, the tower of London, Greenwich observatory, Hogarths house; the Carlton, Reform, American, Savage, Arts and Orleans clubs; the Royal College of Surgeons, University college and its library, Stationers hall, the Y.M.C.A. It is perhaps true that many saved their lives running but I am afraid a much greater number lost them or became casualties."[20]. Brian Barton of Queen's University, Belfast, has written most on this topic.[19]. A Raid From Above parliament: "if the government realized 'that these fast bombers can come to Northern Ireland in two and three quarter hours'". Find out how it began, what the Germans hoped to achieve and how it severe it was, plus we visit nine places affected by the attacks. Clydeside got its blitz during the period of the last moon. 50,000 houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. Your donations help keep MHN afloat. Updates? Video, 00:01:41, The German bombing of Coventry. There were Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 88s and Dornier Do 17s. The first attack was against the city's waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. Belfast - Kids | Britannica Kids | Homework Help More than 1,000 people were killed, and the damage was more widespread than on any previous occasion. The next took place on Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, when 200 Luftwaffe bombers attacked military and manufacturing targets in the city of Belfast. After a brief lull, the Luftwaffe returned in force on February 17. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. [citation needed], On Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, spectators watching a football match at Windsor Park noticed a lone Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 aircraft circling overhead.[15]. By British mainland blitz standards, casualties were light. BBC News | NORTHERN IRELAND | The Belfast blitz is remembered So had Clydeside until recently. The refugees looked dazed and horror stricken and many had neglected to bring more than a few belongings Any and every means of exit from the city was availed of and the final destination appeared to be a matter of indifference. On 24 March 1941, John MacDermott, Minister for Security, wrote to Prime Minister John Andrews, expressing his concerns that Belfast was so poorly protected: "Up to now we have escaped attack. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. With Britains powerful Royal Navy controlling the surface approaches in the Channel and the North Sea, it fell to the Luftwaffe to establish dominance of the skies above the battle zone. Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Miller Andrews, Northern Ireland remained unprepared. The offensive came to be called the Blitz after the German word blitzkrieg (lightning war). In the first days of the Blitz, a tragic incident in the East End stoked public anger over the governments shelter policy. Belfast Blitz - Wikipedia Days later a group of East Enders occupied the shelter at the upscale Savoy Hotel, and many others began to take refuge in the citys underground railway, or Tube, stations. Strand Public Elementary school, York Road railway station, the adjacent Midland Hotel on York Road, and Salisbury Avenue tram depot were all hit. Belfast made a considerable contribution towards the Allied war effort, producing many naval ships, aircraft and munitions; therefore, the city was deemed a suitable bombing target by the Luftwaffe. All were exhausted. He believed that this was being done already but it was inevitable that a certain number of civilian lives should be lost in the course of heavy bombing from the air". More than 500 German planes dropped more than 700 tons of bombs across the city, killing nearly 1,500 people and destroying 11,000 homes. 1. Up to now, we have escaped an attack, said John MacDermott, the Minister for Security, Belfast, on March 24, 1941. Protection of the city fell to seven anti-aircraft batteries of 16 heavy guns and six light guns. Neighbouring residential areas were also hit. The House of Commons, Westminster Abbey, and the British Museum were severely damaged, and The Temple was almost completely destroyed. "Liverpool, Clydebank and Portsmouth all have a memorial to their victims of the Blitz. Over a period of nine months, over 43,500 civilians were killed in the raids, which focused on major cities and industrial centres. Rescue workers search through the rubble of Eglington Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland, after a German Luftwaffe air raid, 7 May 1941, Anna (left) and her husband Billy (back right) survived while Harriette, Dorothy and Billy were killed along with Dot and Isa, Dot and Isa, with Dorothy when she was a toddler, Royal Welch Fusiliers assist in clearing bomb damage in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 7 May 1941, Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. Public buildings destroyed or badly damaged included Belfast City Hall's Banqueting Hall, the Ulster Hospital for Women and Children and Ballymacarrett library, (the last two being located on Templemore Avenue). Video, 00:01:37, Thanks, but no big speech, in Ken Bruce's sign off, Tear gas fired at Greece train crash protesters. Dissatisfaction with public shelters also led to another notable development in the East EndMickeys Shelter. Another defensive measure employed by the British was barrage balloonslarge oval-shaped unmanned balloons with stabilizing tail finsinstalled in and around major target areas. On occasion, forces consisting of as many as 300 to 400 aircraft would cross the coast by day and split into small groups, and a few planes would succeed in penetrating Londons outer defenses. A short respite followed, until a widespread series of night raids on April 7 included some targets in the London area. ", Mapping the lives lost in the Belfast Blitz. Nine were registered on three separate occasions, and from the start of the Blitz until November 30 there were more than 350 alerts. By 4 am the entire city seemed to be in flames. Munster, for example, operated by the Belfast Steamship Company, plied between Belfast and Liverpool under the tricolour, until she hit a mine and was sunk outside Liverpool. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom . As well as photographs, the Luftwaffe gathered information on landmarks, potential targets and defences or lack thereof. His death (along with preceding ill-health) came at a bad time and arguably inadvertently caused a leadership vacuum. MacDermott would be proved right. The A.R.P. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting. Belfast is located on the island of Ireland. 7. It was not the last time Belfast would suffer. On November 14, 1940, a German force of more than 500 bombers destroyed much of the old city centre and killed more than 550 people. For more than six months, German planes had flown reconnaissance flights over Belfast. The past doesnt change, its just over.. Sometimes they were trying establish a blockade by destroying shipping and port facilities, sometimes they were directly attacking Fighter Command ground installations, sometimes they were targeting aircraft factories, and sometimes they were attempting to engage Fighter Command in the skies. Looking back on the Belfast Blitz, Oberleutnant Becker signed off with the following words: A war is the worst thing that can happen to Mankind. Authorities had noted Queens Island in the cityas a vulnerable point as early as 1929. On July 16, 1940, Hitler issued a directive ordering the preparation and, if necessary, execution of Operation Sea Lion, the amphibious invasion of Great Britain. The Belfast Blitzconsisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfastin Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties. He gave an interview saying: "the people of Belfast are Irish people too". The Luftwaffe had lost more than 600 aircraft, and, although the RAF had lost fewer than half that many, the battle was claiming British fighters and experienced pilots at too great a rate. Belfast, Irish Bal Feirste, city, district, and capital of Northern Ireland, on the River Lagan, at its entrance to Belfast Lough (inlet of the sea). The fourth and final Belfast raid took place on the following night, 56 May. [27] One widespread criticism was that the Germans located Belfast by heading for Dublin and following the railway lines north. Many people who were dug out of the rubble alive had taken shelter underneath their stairs and were fortunate that their homes had not received a direct hit or caught fire. The Belfast blitz devastated a city that up until 1941 had remained unscathed during World War Two. Children and World War Two - History Learning Site He stated that "he would once more tell his government how he felt about the matter and he would ask them to confine the operations to military objectives as far as it was humanly possible. While Anderson shelters offered good protection from bomb fragments and debris, they were cold and damp and generally ill-suited for prolonged occupancy. The Belfast Blitz - KS3 History (Environment and society) - BBC The fall of France in June, 1940, enabled the Luftwaffe to establish airfields across the north of the country, leaving Ulster within reach of bombers. Barton wrote: "the Catholic population was much more strongly opposed to conscription, was inclined to sympathise with Germany", "there were suspicions that the Germans were assisted in identifying targets, held by the Unionist population." 10,000 "officially" crossed the border. London was bombed for 57 consecutive nights from 7 September 1940 The area included the Harland and Wolff Ltd. Shipyard, the Short and Harland Ltd. Aircraft Factory, and the airfield at RAF Sydenham. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? There was no smokescreen ability, however there were some barrage balloons positioned strategically for protection. There is no slacking in our loyalty. Those who sought refuge at the school were told that they would quickly be relocated to a safer area, but the evacuation was delayed. In the course of four Luftwaffe attacks on the nights of 7-8 April, 15-16 April, 4-5 May and 5-6 May 1941, lasting ten hours in total, 1,100 people died, over 56,000 houses in the city were damaged (53 per cent of its entire housing stock), roughly 100,000 made temporarily homeless and 20 million damage was caused to property at wartime values. It became a city by royal charter in 1888. Elsewhere in the skies over Britain, Nazi official Rudolph Hess chose that same evening to parachute into Scotland on a quixotic and wholly unauthorized peace mission. continuous trek to railway stations. The South Hallsville School disaster prompted Londoners, especially residents of the East End, to find safer shelters, on their own if necessary. The most heavily bombed area was that which lay between York Street and the Antrim Road, north of the city centre. Over 100 German planes made contact with barrage balloon cables during the Blitz, and two-thirds of them crashed or made forced landings on British soil. Only four were known still to be alive. The wartime output of the yard included aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Unicorn, cruisers such as HMS Belfast and more than 130 other vessels used by the Royal Navy. The seeming normality of life on the Home Front was shattered in 1944 when the first of the V1's landed. Under the leadership of amon de Valera it had declared its neutrality during the Second World War. TOP 10: Facts About Belfast You Didn't Know - Ireland Before You Die The ill-fated ship was built in the city in 1912, and to this day, there is a museum dedicated to its building and the lives of all of those on board. The Belfast blitz during World War Two - BBC News The "pothole blitz" is a common short-term initiative to combat storm weather damage. 13 Facts You Didn't Know About Belfast After his optician business was destroyed by a bomb, Mickey Davies led an effort to organize the Spitalfield Shelter. It has been reported that on Easter Tuesday, Belfast suffered the highest loss of life of any city in the UK in a single raid. Half of the city's housing was damaged over the course of all the raids. On 4-5 May, another raid, made up of 204 bombers, killed another 203 people and the following night 22 more died. The creeping TikTok bans. The Blitz | Facts, History, Damage, & Casualties | Britannica Brooke noted in his diary "I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency". The winter of 193940 was severe, but the summer was pleasant, and in their leisure hours Londoners thronged the parks or worked in their gardens. Very early in the German bombing campaign, it became clear that the preparationshowever extensive they seemed to have beenwere inadequate. Van Morrison is from the east part of the city. Just eight days earlier, eight planes destroyed the aircraft fuselage factory and damaged the docks, with 15 people ultimately killed as a result of that raid. [6] It was MacDermott who sent a telegram to de Valera seeking assistance. Three nights later (April 1920) London was again subjected to a seven-hour raid, and the loss of life was considerable, especially among firefighters and the A.R.P. While the balloons themselves were an obvious deterrent, they were anchored to the ground by steel tethers that were strong enough to damage or destroy any aircraft that flew into them. 6. Nevertheless, for all the hardship it caused, the campaign proved to be a strategic mistake by the Germans. The night raids on London continued into 1941, and January 1011 saw exceptionally heavy attacks; the Mansion House (residence of the lord mayor of London) and the Bank of England narrowly avoided destruction when a bomb fell directly between them, creating a gigantic crater. Nearby residential areas in east Belfast were also hit when "203 metric tonnes of high explosive bombs, 80 land mines attached to parachutes, and 800 firebomb canisters containing 96,000 incendiary bombs"[16] were dropped. Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland . Wherever Churchill is hiding his war material we will go Belfast is as worthy a target as Coventry, Birmingham, Bristol or Glasgow." Thank you. Some are a total loss; others are already under repair with little outward sign of the damage sustained: Besides Buckingham palace, the chapel of which was wrecked, and Guildhall (the six-centuries old centre of London civic ceremonies and of great architectural beauty), which was destroyed by fire, Kensington palace (the London home of the earl of Athlone, governor general of Canada, and the birthplace of Queen Mary and Queen Victoria), the banqueting hall of Eltham palace (dating from King Johns time and long a royal residence), Lambeth palace (the archbishop of Canterbury), and Holland house (famous for its 17th century domestic architecture, its political associations, and its art treasures), suffered, the latter severely. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. The firm had produced Handley Page Hereford bombers since 1936. Interesting facts about Belfast. Still, many in Northern Ireland believed no Luftwaffe attack would come. When the house was hit William, Harriette, Dorothy, 36-year-old Dot and 41-year-old Isa were all killed. By the end of the attacks, between 900 and 1,000 people were dead and thousands more were injured, homeless and displaced. Both planes quickly proved their mettle against German bombers, and Germanys best fighter, the Bf 109, was of limited use as an escort due to its relatively short operating range. Nurse Emma Duffin, who had served in World War I, contrasted death in that conflict with what she saw:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}. Although casualties were heavy, at no time did they approach the estimates that had been made before the war, and only a fraction of the available hospital and ambulance capacity was ever utilized. [17] A stray bomber attacked Derry, killing 15. 11 churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed. Sir Basil Brooke, the Minister of Agriculture, was the only active minister.

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